Special Night
by Turtleena
Summary: Don's daughter Tori-now age 17-is invited to a special Halloween event by her best friend. Will her family allow her to go, or will they deny her a night on the town? OC based, cannon characters only make occasional showing.


He paced back and forth in their little meeting place in the junkyard, looking at his watch intermittently. "Come on, where is she? I know I put 8:00 in the e-mail as the meeting time, and it's now 8:05…she should be here by now." He declared to himself as he crossed his arms and tapped his foot anxiously.

Meanwhile in the shadows behind him a figure silently works its way toward him. It was about to call out to the impatient looking figure, but then changed its mind as another idea took root. A little ninja sneak attack would be much more fun. The shadow lurker smiled as it crept up behind him, preparing to scare the shell out of him.

"Rrrraaaahhhh!" the shadowy figure exclaimed, causing the other to jump about three feet off the ground.

"Gaaaahhh!" he cried out, loosing his footing and crash landing in a pile of junk, while the shadowy figure nearly doubled over with laughter. "Uuugh, sugar-coated-grain-wedges," he started in annoyance, glaring up at the dark figure, "_must_ you do that?"

Trying to overcome the residual giggles from the scare tactic, the other replied, "Ha, ha, sorry, Matt, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity to scare you out of your wits."

Matt scoffed as he accepted the outstretched hand the figure offered to help pull him to his feet, "Yeah, yeah, I know 'it's a ninja thing'…but just because it's in your blood doesn't mean you have to go with it every time the chance arises, Tori."

"Aww, come on, Matt, now what fun would that be?" she replied as she pulled down the hood of her sweatshirt, allowing him to see her grinning face.

He crossed his arms. "Well, it may not be as fun for you, but at least I wouldn't be scared half-to-death each time you're late for one of our little get-togethers."

She shrugged, "Practice went a little overtime, and I'm not really late. Five minutes is well within the grace period. You've had to wait for me a lot longer before, 'course I've never seen you waiting impatiently after just five minutes."

"Well, that's…uh…I was…just anxious to see you, that's all. We haven't had the chance to meet beyond our computer screens for the last few weeks with all the school stuff I've been dealing with, and all your evening training and what-not."

Tori smiled knowingly. "It's good to see you, too." She said lightly elbowing him playfully in the arm before making her way her usual makeshift seat. "So, what's so important that you had to drag me all the way out here to our old meeting place anyway?" she asked as she pulled something small out of her pocket. It was always easier for her to talk seriously when her hands were occupied, even if it meant just fidgeting with a pen. "We could have just met in the tunnels near the lair, if you didn't feel comfortable talking about it to me over the computer."

He shifted uneasily as he shook his head, "Not this time. I wanted to make sure we were away from all prying ears before I ask you this question. This just happens to be the best spot for it is all."

Tori froze. Suddenly she wasn't so sure she wanted to hear the question. Not that Matt hadn't asked her personal questions before, in fact, when they had first met face-to face a little over two years ago, and he discovered that she was…well, different…he had bombarded her with all sorts of questions regarding her genetic makeup and whatnot. Of course, most of that was because he had already learned most of her basic family structure and history through their internet friendship over the five years prior to that. But even then he never seemed antsy or wary of asking her any sort of question, and his current behavior was making her uneasy. She cleared her throat, "Well, we're all alone…so, ask away."

"Well, uh, see the thing is there's this dance coming up at school—not so much a dance as a party, you know with Halloween coming up and everything."

Tori felt lost. She had no idea where Matt was headed with this, especially since she knew on good authority that Matt never attend school dances. "So?"

"So, the thing is I kinda have to be in attendance."

"Huh?"

"It's one of those deals where people get nominated to be king and queen of whatever the annual title is called, and somehow or other I got nominated."

"Oh…okay, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that it's being held _on_ Halloween, since it just happens to be on a Friday this year."

Realization hit Tori. "And you and I had plans to spend Halloween together this year." Matt nodded. "So…what do you want to do?"

"Well, I can't not go, Tori. As stupid as it is, I have a duty to show up for this thing, but I don't want to ruin our plans either."

"Well, just go to the dance, and we can meet up after."

Matt shook his head, "That's just not good enough for me."

"It's no big deal, Matt, there'll be other Halloweens. Besides, it's not like there's any other option here."

"It _is_ a big deal. This is my senior year and who knows where I could be next year at this time." He moved some items so he could sit down next to Tori. "And there _is_ another option we could take."

Tori cocked her head, "Come again?"

"It's not just any old dance, Tori, it's a costume party."

She felt thoroughly confused, and was starting to lose her patience. It wasn't like Matt to beat around the bush like this. "Sorry, you've lost me, but did you have me come out here to vaguely discuss some sort of strange crisis, or is there an actual question involved here? You did say you have a question for me didn't you?"

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, "Yeah, well, I was sort of working up to that. See not only do I have to attend, but I also have to take someone with me…you know…a date."

"And…what…do you think you need to ask my permission to ask a girl out?" Tori stood up and moved a few steps forward crossing her arms, and keeping her back to Matt as she continued. "Matt, we're just friends. What you do is your own business. So, just find a girl you'd like to go with and ask her to go with you to the party…I'm sure there are plenty of girls that would like to be your date for this event."

"Now that you mention it, there are several girls who have been dropping hints about that ever since the nominations were announced, and sure there might be a few that would be…good company." Matt stood and moved up behind Tori and put a hand on her shoulder. "But when it all comes down to it, none of them are you." Tori turned around sharply, eyes wide and mouth agape. Matt raised his hands to stop her from retorting. "Just hear me out on this. One, it's a costume party on Halloween so no one will be the wiser about you. Two, it's a perfect way to keep our original plans to spend Halloween together, though slightly altered in occurrence. Three, if I have to be at this thing, I'd rather have someone with me who can help me stay relaxed and that I know I'll have a good time with—and as far as I'm concerned there's only one girl who matches up to those standards and that someone is you. So what do you say, Tori, will you be my date for the dance?" Tori just blinked, she was too shocked to respond. "You said yourself that I should find a girl I'd like to go with and ask her to go with me…you didn't say anything about not asking my best friend. So, will you?" he asked again with a pleading look in his eyes. He watched as her face went blank and her eyes stared off into space—sheer signs of her going into thought mode.

"Matt, I…I don't know. You know I'll have to run this by my parents before I can even consider going."

"Guess that's a 'no,' huh?"

"No, it just means that you're on standby for a final answer."

He sighed, "Okay, but I'll need an answer soon. You know, just in case you turn me down, and I have to search for another prospect." He cringed at the thought.

She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "I'll let you know as soon as possible. In the meantime, can we just do something fun, or _at least_ change the subject?" she smiled, returning to her playful mood.

Matt smirked, "What, you saying that my conversation is boring you?"

"Oh, only completely" she replied teasingly. "Now come on, name the game and prepare to be beaten mercilessly."

"Heh, heh, in your dreams ninja girl! For the name of the game is…tag you're it!" He said as he quickly slapped her arm before running off.

Tori put her hands as her hips as she called after him, slightly aghast, "Hey, what are we, 10 years old?" She started to run after him while pulling up her hood. "Surely you could have picked a better game than this!"

...

Tori was walking home thinking about the fun time she had with Matt that evening. Matt hadn't gotten too far in their game of tag before she had caught up with him. He had only made it to the edge of the junkyard. Of course, they both knew they couldn't go running through the city streets and sidewalks, it was too risky to do that because Tori couldn't afford to be seen. From the junkyard they had made their way to the park, and just talked as they walked around until it was about 10 o'clock. Both had to get home before their families started to worry, though they hated to part company. Somehow two hours just didn't seem like enough hang out time. As she continued to walk through the tunnels toward her family's wing of the lair, she mulled over Matt's proposition. She liked the idea of being able to hang out with her best friend on Halloween, but she wasn't too sure about the dance idea. Then again, maybe it could be fun. First things first though, she had to get permission from her parents which was probably not going to be an easy feat. She entered the door leading to her family's living room, and to no surprise her parents were sitting on the couch talking. No doubt they were waiting up for her as they always did when she went up to the surface. Her younger siblings would be in bed by now, and her twin brother was probably working on something in his room, since she didn't spy him in the room. Tori decided now would probably be the best time to run the idea by her parents, as it would be unlikely that she would get a chance to speak to them alone tomorrow.

"Hey, Wildflower. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, Dad, it was great." Tori replied as she sunk down in the armchair that sat to the left side of the couch.

"So, why didn't Matt just come here to see you?" her mother asked. "You two had been hanging out in the lair for your last few visits."

"Uh, well, let's just say he needed a change of scenery."

Her father chuckled, "In other words, he wanted to talk to you privately where he was sure no one would be able to eavesdrop."

Tori grinned, "Yeah, something like that."

Her mother smiled softly. "You should get to bed sweetheart. It's late and you'll have to be up for training before you know it."

"Yeah, I know, but...I need to ask you something first."

Her parents looked at each other with slightly worried looks on their faces before turning back to her. "Go ahead, Tori." Don said. So Tori filled her parents in on the situation, and asked for their permission to go to the party. Her parents looked back at each other, a silent conversation occurring between the two of them. After a long moment, her dad sighed, "I think we're going to have to talk more about this before we make a decision. Now you better get to bed. It's late, and you need to be up bright and early for practice tomorrow morning."

"Okay." Tori replied. She new better than to push the issue any further with her parents tonight for it would quickly result in a definite 'no' answer. She bid them goodnight then headed for her room. As she neared her room, she saw a light shining from her twin's room. Her room was just across the hall from his. She was just about to enter her room when he called out to her.

"You're up late."

She should have figured. Usually on the nights when she would return from a solo outing topside, once her parents were satisfied that she had returned home without incident she would have to deal with her twin's 'big brother' mode. Tori rolled her eyes before turning around and making her way to her brother's open doorway. She leaned against the doorframe with her arms folded. "Well, that's one way to state the obvious. Something on your mind that you're up waiting for me?"

Yoshi was lying on his stomach on his bed reading a book, and had yet to look up as he spoke. "I _wasn't_ waiting up. Just wasn't ready to go to sleep and thought I'd do some leisure reading, that's all."

"Uh-huh, sure." She replied incredulously.

He looked up at the sarcastic tone in her voice, closed his book, and then sat up. "So, you just get back?" he asked before standing up and moving toward the doorway.

"A few minutes ago, yeah."

"No incidents I take it, then?" he inquired, crossing his arms and leaning against the other side of his doorway.

A small semi humored smile appeared on Tori's face as she shook her head slightly. "Bud, how many times am I going to have to wax your shell in training before you realize I am more than capable to take care of myself up there?"

"Gee, I don't know, probably about as many times as it'll take me telling you this until I finally get it into your head. I'm your brother and I'll always be looking out for you. And-"

"I know, I know…'and just because we're the same age doesn't mean anything different'…you've only told me that about a gazillion times."

"And I don't plan to stop repeating it anytime soon. I've only got one twin ya know, and as much of a pain in the shell as she can be at times I'd like to keep her around for as long as I can." He said with a soft smile.

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I know. The feeling's mutual. Now if you're quite satisfied that I am perfectly fine, I'm going to go get some sleep."

"Okay, we can talk more tomorrow then."

"_Goodnight_, Yoshi." She used his rightful name to make her point that she was not planning on revisiting this topic tomorrow.

"Night, Tor."

She closed her bedroom door behind her. 'Honestly, sometimes I don't know who is worse, Dad, Mom, or Yoshi.'

…..

Morning came, and during breakfast Tori was unable to detect any hint of her parents having made a decision in regard to letting her go to the Halloween dance. She didn't have time to worry about it at the moment though, she had to finish her breakfast and hurry off to practice. 'Uncle Leo will skin me alive if I'm late for another practice this week.' She thought to herself. Besides she certainly wasn't going to bring up the subject in front of her siblings—namely Yoshi. He'd be on her case soon enough once he finds out. Fortunately, her other siblings, Ty and Kira, are still young enough that they won't give her any grief about the matter.

The morning training session almost went without a hitch, though Tori was sure her cousin JC's opinion would differ. This particular training session consisted of sparing matches, and after warming up, Leo pitted his students against each other one by one. Kelli and Kioko had been the first two to spar. Tori often thought her two cousins took it too easy on each other in these practice matches when they were paired up, but Tori also knew that they didn't care to fight as much as she did. For her it was a thrill and a release, but for her cousins Kelli and Kioko it was just a necessary training application. Next up were her brother and her cousin Ricky. In many ways Ricky was a lot like his dad, Mikey. He had a reputation for being fast and comical, as he often used friendly banter while sparing, much to the disapproval of their Uncle Leo. Yoshi on the other hand was much more serious, not just in sparing but in all aspects of their training. Tori often wondered if his leadership training with Uncle Leo in recent years had something to do that. Though, Yoshi—or Bud or Buddy as he preferred to be called nowadays—would still occasionally toss in his own quips, which he was more prone to do around Ricky. Lastly, was Tori and JC. Of all the cousins—or at least the older six anyway—Tori and JC were the most hard core fighters. JC was generally good natured, but when it came to fighting he would get cocky, which frequently resulted in him getting a good bap from his older sister or whichever cousin he was fighting at the time. With Tori on the other hand, he would quickly be disarmed and overpowered as soon as he made a comment that truly insulted her. Today was one of those days when JC forgot that you do NOT tick Tori off 'cause if you do she'll see to it that you pay the piper. And she found out early in life that the best way to do that was to swiftly and wordlessly beat her offender in front of everyone during practice matches, leaving them embarrassed. Once Leo released his pupils from their morning practice session, they all made their way out of the dojo. JC made a beeline for the door leading to the tunnels; apparently he had to let off some steam from being beaten once again by a girl.

"Well, looks like you've done it again, Tori." Kelli said. "Jase is fuming."

"Hmph, well if your brother would learn to keep his yap shut during practice maybe I wouldn't defeat him so often." Tori retorted.

Ricky laughed. "I doubt even then that he'd beat you more than he does now. You're a dangerous opponent when your head's in the game, but when your heart's in a fight you're totally unstoppable." Tori couldn't help but grin at her cousin's acknowledgment.

"Ricky's got a point. It's like you've always out to prove something, sis."

"The only thing I'm out to prove, bro, is that I can hold my own in a fight…despite the fact that I'm a _girl_." Tori added quietly in distain. "You'd think by now JC would know that being a girl doesn't make someone any less of a warrior."

"Aww, come on, Tori, you know how JC gets…he loves to throw digs at people when he's fighting." Kioko said. "He does it to all of us, even Kelli."

"Your point?"

"Her point is, Tori, that you shouldn't let it bother you so easily." Kelli said.

Tori sighed. "Whatever." She said quietly as she left the group and headed to the banister that overlooks the water flow that runs through the main part of the lair.

"Gee, if you didn't know any better you'd think she'd fouled up in practice." Ricky commented quietly to the rest of the group as he looked on at Tori's seemingly morose form.

Bud shrugged. "Eh, give her some space and she'll be good as new in a few hours."

"If you say so." Ricky replied. "So, Bud, you wanna check out that new video game my dad got me?"

"Why not…I've got some time to kill."

"Awesome. I don't suppose you two would want to come too?" Ricky inquired of the other two.

Kelli and Kioko looked at each other. "No, you two go ahead. We've got something of our own to work on." Kelli said. She waited until they left the room to call over to their other companion. "Hey, Tori, feel like hanging out with us?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna hang here for a while."

"Suit yourself."

Tori didn't bother telling them that she had originally intended to hang out by herself at her current location after practice anyway. If she had they would have known something was up, and pried her with questions. Better that they think she's mad. She stood there leaning against the rail just staring at the water as it flowed, lost in her own thoughts. Suddenly she felt something touch her shoulder. She jumped and turned to see her Uncle Leo standing there next to her.

"Uncle Leo, sorry I…I didn't hear you come up behind me."

He raised an eye ridge. "So I noticed. I said your name a few times, but apparently you were too zoned out to hear me. You had that same look on your face that your father gets when he's lost in his own thoughts." He smiled. "So did you need to talk to me or something that you're still here? I know you don't usually stay here by yourself after training."

"No. I just felt like listening to the water for a while. The sound is rather soothing, and the water makes a good focal point when one needs to think." She smiled slightly.

"Ah, I see. Well, I guess I'll just leave you to your thoughts then." He smiled once more before heading off to another part of the lair.

Tori stayed there for about an hour before moving on to the garage. She knew if she stayed by the water much longer that someone would catch on. Besides, she had a few projects that needed to be worked on. Tori looked around upon entering the garage, and was relieved to find that no one else was there. She went over to the toolbox and pulled out a wrench and went to work.

…..

Tori worked in the garage until early afternoon, right about the time her younger siblings would be in the dojo for their lesson. She returned to her family's wing of the lair hoping that she would be able to talk to one or both of her parents privately. Her father didn't seem to be around, though there was no telling what he had planned to work on today as he always seemed to have a lot of work to do. Her mother would be here somewhere though because she rarely ever left the lair. Tori found her mother in the studio adjacent to the music room, working on some new mixes. Tori knocked lightly on the door so as not to surprise her mom.

"Mom?"

Her mother looked up and smiled. "Hi, sweetheart. You need something?"

"I was kinda hoping we could talk."

"Sure, have a seat. Just let me save my work and shut down the system…then we can chat." It took her mom about two minutes to shut everything down and make sure it was secure before she turned her chair around so that it was facing Tori. "So now, what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was…sort of hoping you could tell me if you and Dad are any where near making a decision…you know, about me going to that Halloween party with Matt?"

"Tori, you've only just told us about this last night. Your dad and I haven't had much of a chance to discuss it yet."

Tori looked down at her hands. "I know. It's just that I promised Matt that I'd give him an answer as soon as I could. No doubt he's probably already left me a message on the computer asking about it."

"Well, your father and I don't want to rush into making a decision especially since this situation is…complex."

Tori sighed heavily. "I know. But…would it really be such a bad thing for me to go? I mean, you know what these types of school events are like, right? You probably went to them all the time when you were in school." Her mother looked as though she had been slapped in the face. Eve turned her head to the side closing her eyes, but she did not answer her daughter. Tori instantly regretted asking her mother about it. "Mom…I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Why don't we go for a walk in the tunnels?" Now it was Tori's turn to be stunned. Her mom stood up and stepped over to the door. "I haven't been out of the lair for a few days, and I think a long walk would be good." Tori got up and followed silently. They had walked for about a mile in silence before her mother finally spoke again. "It's too bad we aren't at the farmhouse or we would be taking this walk in the woods…the scenery would be much more appeasing than this." Eve smiled thoughtfully. "I bet the leaves are just starting to change colors…it should be quite beautiful by the time we go up there next month." She glanced at her daughter, who seemed a bit perplexed. Eve sighed, she never liked to talk much about her human past, but she had always known there would be times—like now—when she would have to give up certain information to her children in order to make them understand her reasoning in certain circumstances. "Tori, there's something you need to understand. The human portion of my past bears little to no weight in these kinds of decisions…especially, when I have no experience." She stopped walking, and Tori followed suit. The look on Tori's face showed she was just as confused as ever. Eve continued, "Sweetheart, the assumption you made about me attending school social functions when I was your age is completely wrong. I never attended any dances. Not homecoming, not the hearts dance, not May Day, not even prom."

"Why not?" Tori asked.

Eve put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Because they were never my thing. I was always far from being a social butterfly, and always felt more comfortable in the background, unnoticed in the shadows. Had I gone to any of those functions I would have merely spent the evening as a miserably uncomfortable wall flower. Besides I hated the thought of getting all gussied up." She added, trying to lighten the mood as she started walking again.

Tori couldn't help but smile at that. It sounded a lot like Matt's reasons for not going to most of his school socials. Tori felt compelled to ask another question. "Mom, did you ever regret not going to any of those things?"

Eve beamed, "Never for an instant. I've known people who have gone to such events and loved it and others who went and regretted it. Had I gone I know I would have regretted the decision, but fortunately I knew myself well enough that making such decisions was easy." She laughed slightly, "Even then I was an outcast, and I rarely 'followed the crowd.'" Eve glanced at her daughter. "But...just because it wasn't right for me doesn't mean it wouldn't be right for you." Tori was surprised by the statement, and wondered if her mother was trying to give her insight to what the final answer might be. "Your father and I would love nothing more than to let you go to the dance with Matt. He's a good kid and we know we can trust him, but there are other things we have to consider. The fact that it's a costume party doesn't take away the fact that it would still be risky. I know you probably think we are just being overprotective, but we just don't want any harm to come to you."

"There's always risk, Mom. Whether I'm in the lair, the tunnels, or topside and whether or not I'm alone or with family and friends. The risk involved in my going to the party with Matt is no different."

"I know, and that's a big part of why your father and I haven't made a decision yet."

Tori's eyes widened as she thought of something. "You don't think Dad would consult Uncle Leo or Grandpa about this, do you?"

Her mother considered the question for a moment. "Hmm, it's a possibility, but in the end it's your father's and my decision. I think the question we should be asking is if _you_ really want to go? Knowing the answer to that question might make the decision process a bit easier." Eve looked at Tori questioningly.

"Well, I would like to spend Halloween with Matt as we had planned, and I think it could be fun. If nothing else it will be an unforgettable experience."

Eve nodded, "Well, your dad and I should have an answer for you by the end of the week at the latest. I think that's reasonable, and it will give Matt about…three weeks to find another date should our answer be disappointing."

"Okay, I guess I can keep Matt at bay until then."

"Good." Eve looked around and decided they had traveled far enough away from the lair for one day. "Now let's head back home. Your dad will be worried if he can't find us anywhere in the lair." They both laughed and then turned to head back home, chatting about various things all along the way.

…..

The rest of the day was pretty routine. Dinner with the entire family in the main lair, and a couple hours of downtime followed by a nightly patrol—instead of the evening practice. When they returned home, Tori decided it was time to check her computer. As she figured, Matt had left her a message early that morning asking is she had an answer yet. She was about to respond when a chat message popped up on the screen saying 'It's about time you got online! Where have you been all night?' Apparently Matt was in an impatient mood.

'Patrolling…you know my family sometimes does that instead of an evening practice. And since when do I have a specified online report time?'

'Sorry. Been checking my messages all day waiting for your answer. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me. Would you please turn on your webcam so we can talk about this semi face-to-face?'

Tori turned to look at her doorway. She had left the door open as she usually when she was just chilling in her room, but she saw light from across the hallway and knew that if she left her door open that her twin would no doubt overhear some of the conversation. 'Just a sec.' she typed back. She went over and closed her door, then returned to her computer and turned on her webcam. Matt waited until she had her headset on before he started speaking to her.

"Ah, there that's better. Call me crazy, but I like it when I can see your face when we're talking."

"Why, you think I'm concealing things from you?"

"Hey, it wouldn't surprise me knowing you, but no…that's not the reason. I just like seeing your expressions. 'Course being able to see those beautiful brown eyes are a plus."

"Pshaw, yeah right. You probably just have a thing for girls with green skin."

Matt was grinning. "You know it. Such beauty is hard to find you know."

"Alright Mr. Flatterer, that's enough of that."

"Aww, but it was just starting to get interesting."

"Matt." Tori said in a warning tone.

"Okay, okay, I know when I'm pushing my luck."

"Heh, I wish JC would know when he was pushing his luck as much as you do."

Matt chuckled. "What'd you do, outmatch him in training again?"

"Creamed him is more like it. He stormed out of the lair after practice this morning, and kept his distance from me during the patrol."

"Well, you can be intimidating some times."

"Oh not you too…what is it with everyone today thinking that I'm too…aggressive."

"Uh, oookay…I'm not even gonna ask."

"Good because I'd rather not go into it right now."

"So…did you ask your parents about the Halloween gig yet?"

"Yeah, I asked them."

"Aaaand?"

"Geez, you're pushy tonight."

"Tori!"

"Alright, alright, they haven't given me an answer yet…but Mom said they'll have an answer by the end of the week."

Matt slapped his hand to his forehead. "Oh, great…now I get to worry about this all week—if not longer." He said sarcastically.

"Hey, just be glad they're thinking about it. They could have flat our said 'no' you know. You know how cautious my family is. As far as I know this is a real first for my family…this kind of situation hasn't come up before."

"Touché. I guess I forget sometimes that you have to be a lot more careful than I do."

"Definitely."

"Well, I better go. It's late and I've got school tomorrow. Keep me posted?"

"You betchya, but do me a favor will ya? _Try_ not to think about it. I'm not sure if I can handle this…antsy version of you all week."

"Huh, easier said than done, Tori, but yeah I'll keep my mind off of it as much as I can. I've certainly got enough school stuff to keep me preoccupied until then. Later."

"Bye." And with that, Tori turned off her webcam and then shut down her computer. It had been a long day and she was ready to crash.

…..

The next day started off like any other. Breakfast, training, and then some free time. Tori went to the garage again after practice, but this time she had a bit of company. She had just started working on making some adjustments to one of the vehicles when she felt the presence of someone else in the room. Tori didn't even have to turn to see who it was. She sighed a little irritated, but kept working, "What's on your mind, Bud?"

He came up alongside her, but stood off to the side so as not to get in her way. "How come you always think there's something bothering me when I talk to you lately?"

She paused and tossed a suspicious look in her brother's direction "_Why_? Because I _know_ you." She looked him up and down before returning her attention to the machine in front of her. "You have a suspicious mind. Lately it's been working overtime. If so much as one thing remotely atypical happens, you're not happy until you figure out why it's happening."

"So then there is something up with you."

She pauses in her struggle to loosen a bolt that refuses to budge to give her twin a glare. "Don't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said."

"Maybe not in so many words, but it is what you were implying."

She huffed, "This is ridiculous. What have I done to make you think that something's up?" Tori asked as she continued her struggle with the bolt.

Bud started reaching towards the wrench in her hands. "Here, let me help."

She batted his hand away. "I got this." She tensed up a bit, then, putting all the force she could on the wrench she finally jerked the bolt loose. Tori gave her brother a triumphant look, "See?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I see…and it's that mindset that gets you into trouble."

"Oh, so first there's something up with me, and now I'm some how-er-other getting myself into trouble? That's rich."

"Would you knock off the tough girl act for two minutes so we could have a conversation that actually gets somewhere? But first-things-first, please, put down the wrench." Bud added warily. She had chased after him with that particular wrench before, when he accidentally destroyed one of her projects, and he was in no hurry to repeat the incident. He would much rather be walloped by her fist than with that thing.

Tori looked down at her arms which were now folded in front of her, and eyed the object in her hand that her brother was demanding her to put down. She looked back to him and shrugged, "Fine." She walked over to the bench, put the wrench down, and picked up a rag to wipe the grease off her hands before walking back over to Bud. "Well?"

"Thanks. Now getting back to that question of what you've done to make me think something is up…well, you've been—how should I put this—very secretive lately." Tori raised an eyebrow. "Oh sure, most of the stuff you've been doing is what you usually do when you're trying to hide something you're having a rough time with. Avoiding my questions, talking to our parents privately, spending more time alone here in the garage, and so on…but…something about it just seems off. I can't put my finger on it, but I know this is more than your usual run-of-the-mill secret."

"Okay…let's say I do have something I'm keeping from most everyone, what makes you think that it's something that will get me into trouble?"

"Like you said 'I know you'…better than you know yourself at times. Plus Mom was out walking in the tunnels with you yesterday, and that in itself is a big indication that something's not right because Mom hardly ever leaves the lair. Tor, we used to tell each other everything. I know we're not each other's confidants in the same way we used to be when we were little, but we still confide in each other about a lot of things don't we?" Tori nodded. "So are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to pry it out of you?"

Tori's thought were reeling, 'Oh darn you, Yoshi. You just can't leave well enough alone no matter how slight it is. Now you're trying to guilt trip it out of me, well that's just not going to work this time…hmm, I'll have to give you something though or you'll hassle me until the end of time about it.' "Look, all I can say is you'll find out soon enough if the matter in question comes about, if not you won't have anything to worry about."

"Wha–that doesn't make any sense, Tori. Quit stalling and just spill it."

"I'm not stalling I'm just trying to avoid getting an unnecessary earful _in case_ it doesn't happen. Why get a lecture when I don't have to."

"Not making me feel better. If anything you're making me worry more because you're talking about getting lectured which means it's something major, yet you're trying to brush it off as no big deal."

"That's because it isn't yet, and there is a big chance that it won't be an issue at all. It'll all depend on Mom and Dad's answer."

That got Bud's attention. He raised an eye ridge, "Answer to what?"

"A question I asked them the other night—and no, I'm not going to tell you what the question was or give you any clue as to what it is about. The fact that Mom and Dad know and are making a decision about it should be good enough information for you to keep your mind at ease for now. Until they have made their decision, I'm not going to discuss this with you or anyone else, Yoshi."

He glared at her. 'Great, she used my real name which means I'd dare not push my luck any further unless I want to be bludgeoned with something.' "Fine, but after they give their answer we _will_ talk about whatever it is and you can bet I'll be giving you more than my usual two-cents worth."

Tori shrugged; glad to be successful at keeping him in the dark for a while longer. "Fine by me."

Bud gave her a curt nod before heading for the door. "See you later then." He said dryly.

Tori shook her head as she watched her brother leave. 'Give him an inch and he'll take a mile. Guess all that leadership training has sunk in so much he doesn't know when not to worry about everyone anymore, but does he have to insist on looking into every little oddity he just happens to notice in someone?' She walked back over to the tool bench to retrieve her wrench. 'Oh well, at least I managed to keep him at bay…for now.'

…..

The rest of the week was pretty much just as hectic for Tori as the confrontation with Bud was. Between Bud and Matt, Tori was starting to wonder how long it was going to take before she would snap and do something she would later regret. Matt left her a message nearly every day asking if she had an answer yet. Tori figured it was probably hard for him to keep his mind off of it because he was probably pressured about it at school, but that didn't mean he had to pressure her about it. As for Bud, he didn't say anything about it, but all Tori had to do was look at his eyes to see he was bound and determined to figure out what was going on. Kelli and Kioko had picked up on the fact that Tori and Bud were at a sort of standoff with each other because they had mentioned it to her a few times in the last couple of days. She also figured Leo had picked up on it as well as he didn't pit the two of them against each other in any sparring matches. He had an uncanny way of perceiving things like that. As far as she could tell, everyone else in the lair was still clueless though, which was just the way she wanted it. She had spent most of her free time—as she was right now—in the garage working on different things. Fortunately, no one really questioned when she spent this much time in the garage as they often referred to her as being 'her father's daughter' because she would tend to get wrapped up in her projects and loose all track of time. Tori had just decided to take a short break when her father came in the room.

"Ah, there you are. Buddy said I might find you in here."

"No big surprise there, Dad. He's only been keeping extra special tabs on me all week. Honestly, Dad, I think Uncle Leo has rubbed off on him too much."

Don chuckled, "Leo said you two have been acting like there's a wedge between you all week. Not that I didn't notice. I guess that means he picked up on something odd and you didn't tell him what he wanted to know, did you?"

"No, I didn't."

"Any particular reason why?"

Tori cocked her head to the side with a mischievous look on her face. "Because I'm too much like Mom?"

Her father laughed, "Well, you can be as stubborn as she gets sometimes."

Tori grinned, "Mom always says I got my stubbornness from you."

"Heh, she would say that. Though I guess there is some truth in it." He said smiling. "So, what've you been working on in here lately?"

Tori half shrugged. "Not much…mostly tune ups really. You know some tweaking, fine tuning, basic checkovers…" She took a quick look around the room. "I even fixed that 'little problem' JC's been having with his bike—but if he asks, you fixed it."

"Still doesn't trust your mechanical insight?"

"Dad, he doesn't even like me to look at his bike, let alone fix what he can't figure out how to fix himself."

"What about that latest one you've been working on…the tunnel racer is it?"

Tori bit her lip and looked over to where her covered up project was sitting. "Well, um…it runs, but I can't seem to get most of the electronic gadgetry stuff to work." She sighed, "I may have inherited your mechanical skills, but I certainly don't have your technological touch."

He put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You underestimate your abilities. Come on, let's see if we can work out a few of the bugs." He pulled off the cover and let out a low whistle. "Not bad Wildflower, now lets take a closer look at some of the electronics to see what's going on." As he worked on removing one of the control panels he said, "By the way, your mom and I have made our decision about that Halloween party Matt wants to take you to."

Tori's head jerked up, her expression a mix of anticipation and dread. "The verdict?" she asked hesitantly. Her father smiled.

…..

Tori couldn't wait for Matt to get to the junkyard so she could give him the news. She had sent him a text message after she and her father had finished working in the garage that said 'Urgent. Meet me 2night, u know where, u know when. –T.' She left it coded so that if anyone else happen to see the message, they wouldn't completely understand it. Matt would know what it meant because back before her family had found out about their friendship, she and Matt had designated a specific place and time for their meetings. Tori had only been there a few minutes when Matt arrived. He was panting so he must have been running like crazy to get there.

"So what's the emergency?"

"Emergency? There's no emergency."

Matt gave her an irritated look. "Your message said 'urgent' so don't tell me I just ran all this way for nothing."

"Catch your breath and then we'll talk."

"Why didn't you respond to any of my texts? I sent you about a dozen messages asking what was up."

"I thought it was better for you to hear the news in person." Tori said calmly and straight faced.

Matt appeared confused at first, but after a moment he caught on. "They said 'no' didn't they?" he asked disappointedly.

Tori was having difficulty maintaining a straight face. "Actually…they said 'yes.'"

"I should've known better than to get my-…wait, what?"

"They said 'yes'…I can go, Matt." She said smiling.

"That's great!" he said cupping her shoulders with his hands as sudden excitement and relief took over him. "Now I can tell all those people at school that I've got a date and they can stop pesting me about it. Of course they'll still be asking me who it is, but that's okay. I can deal with that."

"What's even better is you won't be pressing me for an answer any more." She grabbed one of his arms and started pulling him in the direction of the nearest manhole. "Now come on, we've got to get going."

"Why, where do we have to go?"

"The lair. My parents may have given their permission, but they have a few conditions they want to discuss."

"Oh, no." he slapped his hand to his face.

"Relax, I'm sure it'll just be the usual 'be careful, stick together, keep your shell cell on at all times, call if there's trouble' yadda, yadda kind of speech."

…..

Matt had to hand it to Tori. She had been right about the ground rules her parents laid down for their night on the town, which basically included: Stay together, keep your phones on at all times, and call if there's the slightest bit of trouble. Of course, those were just basic rules with more to follow as the day got closer. There was still three weeks until the dance, and plans were not yet final. After the conditions were discussed, Matt and Tori were free to hang out. Deciding it would be easier to just stay in the lair, they headed for Tori's room where they could talk in semi privacy. Matt took a seat in the beanbag chair, and Tori sat in her computer chair.

"Well, that was relatively painless."

"That's because it was my dad giving the speech and not my Uncle Leo or Uncle Raph."

"Do they know anything about it?"

"Not that I'm aware of. As far as I know, my parents are the only ones who know about it right now."

"You mean you didn't mention this to anyone? Kelli, Kioko, not even Buddy?"

"I didn't want to take a chance on word getting around, which wouldn't take long in this family. Buddy knows something's going on, but he hasn't figured out what. As for Kelli and KK, they just think Bud and I are having a disagreement."

"Hmm…why do I get the feeling this isn't a good sign?"

"Because you know as well as I do that when Bud finds out about this he's going to freak. Remember the night he found out we were friends?"

"Huh, boy do I ever. I was smarting for days after that. No telling what he would've done to me if you hadn't been able to stop him from beating on me." Bud had followed Tori to the junkyard that night determined to find out why she had been sneaking out on occasion. Tori had been digging around in the refuse when Matt arrived, and when Bud saw him coming up behind her he attacked Matt. When Tori finally managed to pry her brother off of him, they had a lot of explaining to do. Bud had kept a wary eye on him for some time after that.

"He would've knocked you unconscious…eventually. Come to think of it I don't think I've ever seen him fight so viciously before or since that night."

"He thought he was protecting you. People tend to fight harder when they're trying to protect someone they care about. I guess if I had been in his place I'd have done the same thing."

"Well, he doesn't need to protect me. Besides, I know my dad and he'll work on every form of undetectable ways to track and surveillance me that he can think of between now and the party."

"Speaking of the party, we should talk about costumes."

Tori cocked her head to the side. "Why, my natural appearance not costumish enough for you?"

"Don't get me wrong, Tori, if you would show up at the dance looking as you do right now they'd believe you really are in costume. But I thought you said you and some of the others do wear a costume of sorts every Halloween?"

"Well, yeah…I mean most us kids still dress up a bit for the occasion, but I think I'd rather forgo that this year. Besides you didn't see the getup Kelli and KK came up with for me last year."

"It couldn't have been that bad."

She gave him a half hearted glare. "Trust me. It was bad."

"Well, I'd still like to see you dressed up, I've never seen you in costume before. Why not wear those special ninja robes or whatever you told me about once?"

"Ha, no way. I don't like wearing any of those robes or kimonos unless I have to. Besides they're for special occasions and ceremonies, not for Halloween."

"Well, the way I see it, it is a special occasion. It's the only time your family goes topside and walks around out in the open right?"

"Yes, but that still doesn't count. Look if it makes you feel better I'll see what I can come up with until then, okay?" Matt nodded. "So, what costume are you planning on wearing anyway?"

"Well, I have an idea or two, but nothing definite yet."

"What, you're not going to even give me a hint?"

He smiled slyly, "Let's just say I want to surprise you."

"Oh, no…I hate it when you get that look on your face. It's like the look Ricky gives someone when he's about to pull a big prank."

Matt chuckled, "It won't be bad, I promise."

She folded her arms. "It better not be. And if you're not telling, then I'm not telling."

"Fair enough. Just make sure it's good."

"Make sure what's good?" A new voice interjected.

"Oh, hey Buddy. Uh, Tori and I were just talking about Halloween costumes."

Bud was leaning against the open doorway. "Why, you trying to talk her into designing one for you? If you are you're talking to the wrong girl. That's usually Kelli and KK's specialty. Unless of course you want to dress up as a machine, then you've got the right girl for the job." Bud said smiling teasingly at his sister. She glared at him.

"Uh, no. Actually we were trying to decide on what costumes we are going to wear."

"Why, what does that have to do with anything?"

Matt looked at Tori pleadingly, begging her to take point on this conversation. Maybe she didn't feel intimidated by her brother, but he certainly did. "Don't you remember? Matt and I had made plans to hang out together this Halloween. And wearing costumes is tradition."

"Yeah, I remember. But I thought you meant that he was going to hang out with us…you know, you, me, Kelli, KK, JC, and Ricky. Last time I checked that was the rule that we had to stay in a group. That is what you mean right?" he narrowed his eyes at his sister.

"Actually, no, that's not what I mean. Matt has invited me to a Halloween party at his school. I asked Mom and Dad for their permission to go, and they've given it."

Bud's eyes widened. "What?" He looked back and forth between Matt and Tori for a moment. "Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what kind of danger you'd be putting yourself in Tori? And you," he looked pointedly at Matt, "do you have any idea how risky that is for her to be out in the open like that alone, or what would happen if the truth about her was discovered?"

"Yoshi!" Tori got up and stood in front of her brother, blocking Matt from his view. "It's a costume party. No one will be suspicious of me if I don't give them a reason to be, and I won't be alone because Matt will be with me. Do you really think Mom and Dad would have given me their permission without pointing out the danger involved, or laying down ground rules for us to follow? Besides you know Dad won't let me go without having an emergency plan, and some sort of gizmo attached to me."

Bud looked at his sister hard. "This isn't over." He said quietly, then, moved to glare at Matt briefly before leaving the room.

Matt left out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Oh man, he's gonna have my head for this. Did you see the way he looked at me? Where do you think he's going anyway?"

"Don't worry, Matt, his bark is worse than his bite. Nine chances out of ten say he's heading for the dojo to cool off, which shouldn't take too long."

"Huh, that's easy for you to say, speaking from personal experience I'd say his bark _is_ just as bad as his bite. And what makes you so sure he's headed for the dojo?"

Tori shrugged. "It's where all of the well trained fighting members of the Hamato clan seem to go when they're enraged."

"Maybe I should go talk to him. He probably has something he wants to say to me anyway."

Tori held up a hand. "Give him an hour to cool off before you try to talk to him, and when you do I'll wait outside the dojo doors just incase he tries something."

"You don't really think he'd try to do more to me than punch me in the face do you? I mean he does consider me a friend, right?"

"I don't know, even though you're a friend doesn't mean he won't try to pummel you. Bud's not one to lose control, but there's a first time for everything."

…..

Buddy stormed into the dojo. He paced pack and forth in the middle of the floor while slamming his fist into his other hand for about two circles before suddenly pulling a sai from his belt as he spun around and threw it at a target across the room. Landing it in the dead center of the target not five feet from where JC happen to be working with the punching bag.

"Whoa, jeez, what's on your shell, Buddy?"

"Nothing." He snapped before pulling his other sai out of his belt and hurling it across the other side of the room at another target, again hitting the bull's eye.

"Cuz, no offense, but that doesn't look like nothing to me. You don't exactly have a rep of storming in here and flingin' your weapons around on a normal basis. It doesn't exactly do much for your rep as leader either."

Bud took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. "Sorry, Jase. Just a bit frustrated is all."

"Judging from the sai that went whizzing by me I'd say it was more than a bit of frustration. Wanna talk 'bout it?"

"Not particularly."

"Let me guess, Tori right?" Buddy looked at him stunned. "Oh, come on, cuz, you two are a lot more obvious than you think. It's super easy to tell when there's something getting between the two of you because you get along really well most of the time. Plus I heard Kelli and Kioko talking about it the other day."

"She's gonna do something really stupid." He walked over to the punching bag. "And what's worse is she has our parents' blessing to do it!" He let out a low frustrated growl as punched the bag with all his force.

"Buddy, your parents aren't stupid you know. Your dad is super smart and very protective. He wouldn't give Tori permission to do anything dangerous, and neither would your mom. Did you talk to them about it?"

"No. I didn't think it was a good idea while I was angry."

JC smirked, "Wouldn't get you very far that's for sure. Dare I ask what Tori's up to?"

Bud glared as he stared at the wall. "She plans on going with Matt to a school Halloween party."

"What, you serious?" Bud nodded. "How can they let her do that? She'd be defenseless if anything went wrong."

"I know." Buddy admitted quietly.

"Well…good luck, cuz…you're gonna need it." He patted Buddy's shoulder as he walked by him on his way out of the dojo. Buddy retrieved his sais, and then decided some meditation would be a good idea. He would need to be calm and collected when he talks to his parents about their decision. Bud wasn't sure how much time had passed before he felt the presence of someone else enter the room.

"Uh, Buddy, can we talk?" a voice asked hesitantly.

Buddy opened his eyes, and turned to glare at Matt. "You so sure that's a good idea? I could do some real damage you know, especially given our current location."

"Yeah, you could, but you won't because it goes against everything you believe. And I'm your friend."

"Pft, some friend…you're planning on taking my sister into a high risk situation, not even considering her safety."

"That's not true, Bud. I would never do anything to put Tori in danger and you know it. She's my best friend and I won't take any chance of loosing her."

Buddy rose and walked in Matt's direction until he was about two feet in front of him. He kept his voice low and even, "And yet you are. If she is discovered she doesn't stand a chance against a mob of people. She's a good fighter, but even she doesn't stand a chance against a huge crowd. And you don't possess any fighting skills that would be of any help to her."

"What makes you so sure she'll be discovered? It's a costume party which means there's little to no chance that anyone will suspect that she's not a human girl in costume."

"But there's still a chance." Bud paused for a moment studying Matt. He sighed, "Obviously, there's not much I can do since my parents gave their permission. I can only hope they didn't make a poor choice, but I will tell you this. You'd better look after her because if anything happens to her I will hold you personally responsible. Got it?"

Matt gave a curt nod. "Got it."

"Good. You should probably go before you run out of time to hang out with Tori."

"So, we're cool, then?"

"Yeah, man, we're cool." Bud relaxed into his normal calm attitude. Matt nodded with a half smile then headed for the door. Bud watched as Tori appeared in the doorway and exchanged words quietly with Matt. Matt then put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before pulling away from her and waving goodbye. Apparently it was time for him to leave. Buddy watched as Tori looked back at him from the doorway. She seemed a little disappointed, shaking her head slightly as she turned around and left. He gave her about a ten minute lead before going after her. She was in her room with the door shut. He knocked on the door softly.

"Tori, you awake?"

"Yes." Came the quiet reply from the other side of the door.

"Mind if I come in?"

There was a slight pause. "I guess."

Buddy opened the door, entered the room, and then closed the door quietly behind him. Tori had changed into her pjs and was curled up reading a book at the head of the bed. She sat up and smoothed her blankets as he came over and sat on the edge of her bed. He glanced at her cautiously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Tori, look I…I'm sorry about earlier, okay? I don't like fighting with you like that, it feels so unnatural and throws everything out of balance."

"You're okay with Matt taking me to the party then?"

He looked down at the quilt on the bed and started tracing the pattern on it with his finger. "I didn't say that." He said quietly. "I still think it's a bad idea. Tor, if you were to get caught I-"

"I'm not going to get caught." She leaned forward and put her hand over his. "I'm going to be fine, I promise."

He shook his head. "It's not something you can guarantee in this kind of circumstance, Tor."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "You didn't have to threaten him you know. Dad's already made sure that he's going to be sticking close to me. Matt knows we have to be extra careful."

"I was just trying to make a point. Matt may know, Tori, but he doesn't truly understand what it's like for us having to hide in the shadows all the time…the danger that exists for us."

"Touché. You understand now why I wouldn't tell you what was up this past week?"

Bud half smiled. "Yeah, you knew I'd go ballistic. Jase probably thought I was going to impale him with one of my sais the way I barreled into the dojo tonight. He wasn't even five feet away from the target I threw the first one at."

Tori giggled, which is something she only did around certain family members. "I bet he doesn't know who to be more afraid of, a pissed off you, or a ticked off me. You'd think he'd be the scariest one when he's fuming, considering he's Uncle Raph's kid."

Buddy laughed. "Fortunately for us, he inherited Uncle Raph's pride and not his temper."

"Heh, yeah, I guess that's true." She paused. "Forgiven?"

Bud nodded. "Forgiven." He glanced at the clock beside her bed. "Now get some sleep." He got up and leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the forehead. This sort of family affection she'd only allow in private. "I don't want you late for morning practice because of me keeping you up all night. Then Uncle Leo will have us both doing laps."

She smiled. "Afraid of a little extra work?"

He grinned. "Nah, it's just not good for my image."

"Oh, you." She said as she lightheartedly threw a small pillow at him. "You're impossible."

"Why thank you." He said as he did a mock bow. "Night Tor." He said before heading for the door.

"Goodnight, bro." Tori said as she turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled down under her covers. Buddy couldn't help but look back and smile at her before he exited the room and quietly shut the door behind him. She may act rough most of the time, but Tori was a real gentle soul at heart.

…..

The next few weeks seem to fly by. Kelli and Kioko had bounced Tori the morning after she and Buddy had their little heart to heart discussion. Apparently JC had told them what Buddy had mentioned about Matt taking her to a party, and they wanted to know why she didn't confide in them about it. Tori simply told them she didn't want them making a big deal out of it. Matt and Tori didn't have time to visit with each other than sending messages back and forth online. He was busy with school stuff, and she was busy with training and family stuff. Then the big day finally arrived. They had just finished up morning training when Kelli and Kioko pulled Tori off to the side and escorted her to Kelli's room.

"Alright you two, what's the big idea dragging me in here like this?"

"Try the fact that we need to work on your costume for tonight and decide on the final touches." Kelli said.

"Oh, no. I thought I told you two _not_ to make me a costume."

"You did, but we knew you wouldn't come up with anything good on your own. Besides you're going to a party, so you want something spectacular right?" Kioko piped in.

"Well, yeah, but what makes you think I didn't come up with a good costume on my own?"

"Alright then, tell us what you came up with." Kelli insisted.

Tori was taken back. "Well, I…that is to say-"

"You got zilch right?" Kioko asked.

Tori sighed. "Fine I got nothing, okay, you busted me."

"See. You depend on us for this kind of stuff." Kelli said triumphantly.

Tori folded her arms. "Yeah, like I depend on Ty to give me an ulcer." She rubbed her forehead. "Just please tell me you didn't come up with something like that ridiculous getup you made me last year."

"Come on, Tori, it wasn't that bad." Kelli commented.

"You looked kind of cute actually." Kioko tried to reassure her.

Tori narrowed her eyes at them. "Tori Anne Hamato does not do cutesy princess costumes complete with tiara, especially when the outfit is pink—which is _so_ not my color. I only complied with it last year because I felt guilty that you two had worked so hard on it for weeks and I didn't want to hurt your feelings. Had I known that's what you had planned I would have stopped you during the preparation process."

"Okay, we get it. No more princess costumes for you, but just so you know the costume for you this year entails a dress." Kelli stated before heading off into her walk-in closet.

Tori's eyes widened. "What?"

"Relax, Tori, you're going to love this one. It really speaks to your personality, trust us." Kioko reassured.

"Famous last words." Tori muttered under her breath.

Kelli came back out with a formal looking silver dress. It shimmered in the light, and was made of a silky material. It had a sort of halter-top-like bodice and long flowing skirt that had a long split up the right side. "Well, what do you think?" Kelli asked excitedly.

"I think you two are off your rockers. What exactly am I supposed to be, a ballroom dancer or something?"

"Actually, we were aiming more for lounge singer." Kioko stated.

"Lounge singer? And that speaks to my personality how?"

"Oh come on, Tori, you're smart. Surely you can see the connection." Kelli replied.

"Um, yeah, I think I'm going to need a map to find my way to the end of this maze." Tori said sarcastically.

Kelli huffed. "It fits your personality because it works with your deceptively feminine fighting approach." Tori raised an eyebrow, still not seeing the connection. "It's sleeveless right, which will show off the muscular form of your arms showing that you're tougher than you seem and yet the outfit will insist that you're a delicate flower. Not to mention the fact that your favorite fans will match the dress perfectly, and be fabulous accessories."

"Fine, I'll try it on, but that's as far as I promise to go with this charade."

"If you say so." Kelli looked at Kioko with a sly smile as she handed over the dress to Tori.

"You two are so smug sometimes, you know that?" Tori commented wryly, but the other two just smiled back at her. In a short time she came back out from Kelli's walk-in closet, which also served as the dressing room. "Okay, let's get this over with." She said as she headed for the full-length mirror. She had to admit the dress was a nice fit, and it was relatively modest. The skirt was loose enough that it didn't constrict her tail.

"So?" Kioko finally asked.

"It's okay, but I'm not so sure about this split. Why is it practically up to my hip?"

"Call it a precaution, sort of an insightful design measure. This way in case something should happen and you would have to fight, you won't have to tear the skirt apart or constantly hike it up with your hands to properly execute a kick." Kelli explained.

"You do realize my Dad is never going to agree to this, right? I mean even your dad would flip if you tried to wear a dress like this with a slit that came clean up to your hip."

"Which is why this goes with it." Kioko added as she brought out a very long light purple sash, and tied it around Tori's waist with the long ends draping down over the slit practically concealing its true length. KK even secured it in place with a beautifully crafted purple jeweled butterfly pin.

"Don't forget these." Kelli said as she brought out a pair of silver slip-on shoes. "Well?"

"Not bad, but I still don't think this suits me."

"Well, of course not. We've still got a lot of work to do before you'll be ready." Kelli said as she looked at Kioko.

"What do you mean, what else is there for you to work on?"

"Your hair." The other two said simultaneously.

"Oh, no. No. No, no, no, no, no you are NOT touching my hair!"

"Tori, do you really think simply putting on a nice dress is going to impress Matt with your Halloween enthusiasm? No offense, but the straight hair with simple adorned ribbon headband is not doing this ensemble justice. Now come on, sit down here and let us fix you up with a new look. KK, you might want to go bring us up some lunch and maybe some snacks."

"Right. Can't leave anyone get a look at our handiwork until it's finished."

"Ugh, why do I let you guys talk me into this stuff?" Tori asked as she plopped down in the chair.

"Because you know we're right, plus we're older than you. Now hold still."

It took the better part of the day, but Kelli and Kioko finally came up with a look that they thought worked well for Tori. And despite the occasional protesting on Tori's part, they managed to get her hair styled. Tori was about to turn around and look in the mirror at their handiwork when KK grabbed her shoulder.

"No, you're not done yet."

"Let's see, I'm dressed, my hair is styled, yeah, I think I'm done now."

"Tori, we still have your makeup to do." Kelli informed her.

"Uh, hello, my skin is already green I think that qualifies enough."

"Tori." Kelli said with a determined look.

"Oooooh, why me?" Tori asked plaintively as she looked up at the ceiling.

"It's not going to be that bad." KK told her.

A few more minutes and they allowed Tori to finally turn around and look at herself in the mirror. Tori's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. If she didn't know that was her, she never would have believed it. The person staring her back in the mirror looked nothing like her except for the mint green skin and brown eyes. Her cousins had added silver and light purple pinstripe highlights to her golden brown hair before curling it into ringlets. They had painted her nails a silver color. Sparkly light purple eye shadow was applied to her eyelids, and accented with a touch of shimmering silver. And since it was Halloween after all, they even used a faint purple lipstick on her lips.

"I…I don't believe it." Tori said shocked. "I don't look anything like myself."

"So, you like, or you don't like?" Kelli asked. "Never mind the amount of work we put into this."

Tori smiled. "You know I hate to admit it, but…I…kinda like it."

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Kelli, you in there?"

Kelli beamed. "Time for an acid test. KK, go let Buddy in."

"Hey, Buddy, what do you need?" Kioko asked after she opened the door.

"I'm looking for Tori. Uncle Raph said he thought she was in here."

"Yeah, she's here. Come on in."

Bud stopped short when he noticed an unfamiliar person in the room. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you guys had extra company." He looked around the room. "Uh, where's Tori, I thought you said she was here?"

Tori, who had been looking in the mirror up to this point, finally snapped out of her daze and turned towards her brother. "I'm right here in front of you, silly."

Buddy furrowed his brow in confusion as he stepped closer to the figure. "Tori?"

She took her normal annoyed stance. "No, it's Melody Harmonious." She replied sarcastically. "Who else do you think it would be?"

'No mistaking that stance or attitude, it's definitely Tori' he thought to himself as his eyes were wide with disbelief. "Tori, you look…incredible. You're barely recognizable."

"Mmm. So, what do you want?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, Mom and Dad have something they want to talk to you about."

"She'll be out as soon as she's done helping me and KK get ready."

He looked at Kelli. "Alright then, I'll tell them. Just don't be too long. They'll soon want to head topside." He turned and left, closing the door behind him.

"Well, I'd say that went well. If your own brother was stunned just think of how shocked Matt will be." Kelli said gleefully. Tori just shot her a look that said 'you're crazy.'

…..

Next thing Tori knew, she was being ushered to the main lair by her two cousins. They made her stand at the side of the door way out of sight as they went on in. Said they wanted to announce her entry. As far as Tori was concerned, it meant they wanted to embarrass her in front of the entire family. Everyone would be gathered to prepare for the night topside. She waited for her cue, then rounded the doorway. To say she was anxious would be an understatement. Tori had never felt so self-conscious in her entire life. She tried to focus on the floor rather than the group gathered in front of her, and she could feel her face turning red as she felt their stares. She could hear hushed conversation as she stopped once she was standing in the light.

"That's Tori?" JC inquired quietly of Buddy who nodded in response. "Boy you weren't kidding."

"Yeah," Ricky piped in. "Tori looks hot."

Buddy's eyes widened at Ricky's comment and he quickly elbowed him in the ribs causing Ricky to grunt. "That's my sister!" Buddy hissed. "Not to mention your cousin" he muttered under his breath as he folded his arms.

"Jeez, take it easy, Buddy." Ricky said. "I'm just saying you never see her dressed up like that is all." Buddy scowled at him. "Okay, point taken. I won't say another word."

Her aunts and uncles all complemented her on how stunning she looked. Even her grandfather noted her loveliness. Tori couldn't seem to manage more than to glance at them briefly and nod her thanks as they complimented her. She just wasn't used to this sort of attention. Then her parents stepped from the group and moved close to her as the rest of the family went back to preparing to leave the lair for the night.

"Wildflower," her father said as her lifted her chin so she would make eye contact, "how do you feel?"

"Silly. I don't feel anything like myself now that the whole family has seen me like this. Be honest, I look ridiculous in this getup don't I?"

Don smiled. "No not at all."

"You look enchanting, sweetheart." Her mother reassured her. "Matt will be knocked out of his socks when he sees you."

"Here, hold out your arm." Her father instructed. He placed a simple silver band bracelet engraved with butterflies and her specially designed wildflower symbol around her wrist. She looked up at him quizzically. "Your emergency signifier. If you run into trouble and can't access your phone to call someone, press on the yin-yang symbol in the middle of the flower. It'll set off an alarm on our shell cells, and activate the built in tracking signal."

"Thanks. How soon will we be heading topside?"

Don looked around the room for a moment. "I think we're just about ready. Better go grab anything you might have forgotten such as your cell and your fans."

"And either a jacket, or your cape." Her mother added. "You don't want to freeze on the way home."

Tori smiled. "Be right back."

…..

Once topside the family split up into a few groups. Tori was to stay with her parents until they escorted her to the rendezvous point where Matt was to meet them. The rest of the teen group would normally branch off on their own, but Kelli and Kioko said they weren't missing the look on Matt's face for anything and since the older teens had to stay together, the boys had no choice but to tag along. Tori had a feeling that her twin brother would have stayed with her until the rendezvous anyway. She could tell he was on edge about this whole deal. He had matched his pace to hers as they drifted to the back of their group.

He kept his voice low. "Nervous?"

"A little." She whispered in reply.

"You could still change your mind you know."

"It wouldn't be honorable to break my word."

"No…it wouldn't." He admitted.

She reached over and slipped her hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be fine. You'll see." She said offering a small smile. He merely nodded.

Before long they were standing at a corner near the school that Matt attends, waiting for him to arrive.

"See him anywhere?" Kioko asked.

"Who could find him among all these costumed people? Besides without knowing what he's dressed up as it doesn't do us much good to try and look for him." Kelli said as she scanned the crowd gathering toward the school entrance.

"Just be patient, he'll find us." Don said.

"Heh, kinda hard not to spot us seeing as how we're standing right under a light, and half of us aren't even in costume." Ricky commented.

"Wait, is that him there?" Kioko asked.

"Where?" Eve asked.

"There." Kioko pointed out. "The one headed our way in the black and gold ninja costume."

"Hey." Matt called out as he waved.

"Yep, that's him alright." Kelli confirmed. "Guess we know now why he was dropping hints for Tori to wear her ceremonial ninja garb."

Matt pulled down the hood and face coverings of his costume as he joined the group. "Uh, hi everyone, I wasn't expecting to see so many of you here."

"Well, we just wanted to see Tori off." Kelli explained.

Matt was looking around trying to spy Tori. "Speaking of which, where is she? She didn't change her mind did she?"

"'Course not, she's right here by me." Buddy called out from the back of the little group before guiding his sister up by their parents. Tori was wearing a long hooded purple cape, which covered her costume and shadowed her face making it hard for Matt to see her. After a moment of silent nudging from Kelli, Tori pulled back her hood allowing Matt to see her face.

"Hi, Matt."

"Tori?" Matt's jaw went slack and his eyes bugged out in shock. "Wow. You look…wow." Don cleared his throat, and Matt snapped back to attention. "Uh, sorry."

"It's okay." Tori said.

"Now I'm sure you both remember the rules, but I'm going to refresh your memories anyway for my piece of mind. Stay together, keep your phones at all the times, and call if anything goes wrong." Don said.

"Yes, sir." Matt affirmed.

Eve gave her daughter a quick hug. "Have fun, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Mom." Tori looked over to her brother who nodded, which was his way of saying it was okay. As Tori moved forward to join Matt, Buddy gave Matt a stern look to make sure he remembered to watch out for his sister. Matt caught the look and gave a slow nod in return. He then took Tori's hand, and started to lead her toward the school entrance. The rest of the group would wait at the corner until they saw the pair enter the building before they would leave.

"Well, just when I thought there was nothing left in this world to surprise me, you nearly send me into shock." Matt said lightheartedly once they were out of earshot of her family.

"Sure doesn't take much." She teased. Once inside the school, Tori started looking around as Matt lead her to their destination. Matt was about to lead her into the dance hall when she stopped him. "Matt, is there somewhere where I can stick my cape that it'll be safe? I wouldn't ask except I have my shell cell and a pair of my sharp fans stored in the hidden pockets, and I don't want to take a chance of someone getting a hold of them."

"You mean it's not actually part of your costume?" She shook her head. He looked around for a moment, before pulling her past the dance entrance. "Yeah, come on, my locker's just down here. We can keep it in there until we leave." He stopped when they reached his locker. He undid the combination lock and opened the door. Tori couldn't help but look inside; she'd probably never have this opportunity again. To her surprise it was rather neat.

"Charming." She said dryly. Then she did a double take as she caught sight of some scribbles on one of his notebooks. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Doodle my name much?"

He shrugged. "Hey, a guy gets bored sitting in a bunch of boring classes. When my mind starts to wander my pen takes on a life of its own. Now are we sticking your cape in here or what?" She turned so her back was to him as she undid the clasp of her cape. Matt got a hold of it as she started to shrug it off of her shoulders and locked it in his locker. When he looked back at Tori he couldn't believe his eyes. He never imagined she would wear an outfit like that. "Whoa. Tori I…er…wow."

She folded her arms and scowled halfheartedly at him. "You're doing it again."

"Sorry. Any other surprises I should know about before we continue?"

"No. You're good."

"Good. I don't think my heart can take much more shock tonight." He grinned. "Come on." He took her hand and led her into the dance hall. Now it was Tori's turn to be stunned. She couldn't believe all the streamers, and decorations that were strewn all over the place. The flashing colored lights that were changing to the beat of the music in the dim room only added to the awe of the scene.

"Wow, this is amazing. I've never seen anything like it."

"You mustn't get out much." A new voice interjected. "Hey, Matt, you actually showed. You know I didn't believe you when you said you were coming, and I certainly didn't believe you when you said you were actually bringin' a date." He looked Tori up and down. "And a drop-dead gorgeous one at that. So you gonna introduce me or what here?"

"Jeez, how stupid of me, and here I thought you already knew her." Matt said sarcastically.

He leered at Matt. "Smart aleck."

Matt smirked. "Ha, ha, takes one to know one. Toni, this is Tori. Tori, this no good scoundrel here is my so-called life long friend Toni."

"Tori? I'm sorry did-did you say Tori? As in the girl you constantly talk about, yet somehow manage to keep a mystery? The one you always tell me I have no chance in shell of meeting, that Tori?"

"Yes, Toni, _that_ Tori."

"Well, well…it's so good to finally meet you. You know ol' Matt here had us all thinking you were just some sort of imaginary friend he came up with because no one could seem to prove you existed."

Tori turned to Matt. "Is he always like this?"

"No, actually I'm usually much more charming, but uh, your presence here is just kinda a shock."

Matt grinned. "Heh, you have no idea." He said as he glanced at Tori, who was smiling nervously. "Uh, speaking of dates, Toni, don't you have one you should be getting back to?"

"Oh, yeah, Dreama. She's around here somewhere, but hey don't go anywhere I'll be right back. I'd like to get to know this mystery girl of yours a little more before you hide her away again."

"Yeah, sure. We'll do that."

"Well, that was interesting. Are all your friends like that?"

"They will be once Toni spreads the word that you're here. Come on." he said as he tugged on her arm.

"I thought we weren't going anywhere."

"Well, we're not leaving the room so technically we aren't going anywhere, but I don't plan on making it easy for Toni to locate us for a while. Unless of course you want to be bombarded with questions."

"On second thought, moving sounds like a good idea." He pulled her out close to the middle of the dance floor, hoping to be hidden by the crowd for a time. "Uh, Matt…I just realized we have a problem."

"What that?"

"I don't know how to dance."

"What?"

"Just what I said, I don't know how to dance."

"I thought you did dancy stuff a lot."

"No. I mean, I work out to music a lot, sure, but that's usually when I'm practicing with a bow staff alone, or doing a kickboxing routine with my mom in her private studio. But even then it's just slightly danced up fighting moves."

"Well, the good news is you at least have something to go on and you're musically inclined. The bad news is I don't really know how to dance either."

"Great, so now what do we do?"

"Guess we just let the beat speak to our feet, and try to rock out as best we can." Matt said as he started to bob from side to side on his feet, trying to match the beat of the music. "You lead, I'll follow as best I can, ninja girl." He gave her a confident smile, knowing she'd come up with something.

Tori had started to clap step and lightly roll her shoulders to the beat out of habit while Matt was talking to her. It was always the first thing she did when warming up for a kickboxing workout session. She wondered why Matt had decided it was her place to come up with something more than bobbing and weaving on the dance floor. Tori closed her eyes to focus on the music. It was upbeat club type music. 'Okay, I can work with this.' She thought. Tori looked at Matt. "Remember those simple moves I've been showing you?"

"Yeah."

"We'll work with those. I'll call the move changes as we go. We may have to modify some of them, keep the punches and kicks soft unless I say otherwise, and hopefully we have enough room to pull this off." She said looking around them. "Ready?" He nodded. "Okay. Howz it right with a jab on four." She counted off and they started moving to Matt's right. Tori continued to call out various moves including crosses, zig-zag-knee, speed bag, and even managed to toss in a few round house kicks as they continued to move to the music. It didn't take long before the pair started to enjoy themselves and they forgot all about the crowd around them. Tori began to adjust her movements so that sometimes she an Matt were mirroring each other, and at other times she would move along side him so that it seemed like they were doing a line dance. After the first set of songs ended, Matt and Tori were amazed to find that everyone seemed to be applauding them. Everyone appeared to staring at them. Tori wasn't exactly sure how to respond, but she could feel heat creeping up into her cheeks. She turned to look at Matt as he slipped his hand in hers. He smiled and mouthed the word 'bow.' They looked to one side of the crowd and then the other, giving a slight bow to each side in turn before making their way off the dance floor. An announcer came over the speakers saying that they were going to take a break, and that everyone should take the opportunity to enjoy the refreshments or socialize. Matt guided her to a set of tables that were set off to the side of the room.

"Ha, ha, and you said you didn't know how to dance." He said lightly as they both took a seat.

Tori put a hand on the side of her face feeling the heat of the full out blush that was lingering there. "Technically, I don't. But I guess in this setting some simple fighting moves look just as good."

"Apparently even better."

Tori looked down at her lap and started smoothing out her dress. "I'm glad Kelli and Kioko designed this dress the way they did, I didn't have any trouble moving the way I would if I were in my normal attire."

"And you look twice as pretty." He said with a smirk.

She shook her head. "Well, don't get used to it. After tonight it's back to plain old Tori."

"There's not that much difference really." He said thoughtfully. He looked over at the refreshment table then back at Tori. "I'm going to go get a drink, you want anything?"

"Umm, some punch would be nice."

"Sure, just so long as I'm not the one getting punched." He quipped. She just shook her head and laughed as he turned to go. Tori had started to admire the decorations once more when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Well, you really are somethin' aren't ya?" She turned her head and there was Toni standing with some other girl. He spoke again, "Matt always said you were somethin' special, and I've got a feelin' those moves you were bustin' out on the dance floor are just the tip of the iceberg, am I right?" Tori merely gave a small lopsided smile and shrugged. "Oh, uh, this is Dreama." He said motioning to the girl with him. "Dreama, this is Matt's infamous Tori."

"Ah, so the rumors are true, and the mystery girl does exist." Dreama said good naturedly. "Hi, it's nice to meet you." She smiled as she held out her hand.

"Likewise." Tori said as she shook Dreama's hand.

"So, mind if we join you?" Toni asked.

"Might as well, I know you have questions that you're dying to ask her anyway." Matt said as her returned to his seat and passed Tori her drink.

"You got that right." Toni said as he and Dreama took seats opposite of Matt and Tori. "So, Tori…exactly how long have you known Matt anyway?"

"Toni you already know that."

"Just wanna make sure you haven't been feeding me misinformation, Matt." He turns back to Tori. "So?"

Tori quickly glanced at Matt. "Well, do you mean cyber, personally, or all together?"

Toni looked at her baffled. "Uh, how 'bout all three?"

"Okay, then. Matt and I met face-to-face two years ago, and we discovered that we had known each other through the internet for five years before that. So, seven years total."

"Uh-huh…so, in all that time how come we've never seen you around before?"

Tori shifted nervously in her chair. "Um, well, you see my family doesn't get out much. We're pretty secluded from the rest of the world."

"So you come from a big important family then?" Dreama inquired.

Tori smiled as she thought of her unique family. "A big family, yes…important, no—at least not in a public sense. Very few people know about us let alone have heard of us."

"Then how did you ever manage to meet, Matt?" she inquired.

Tori chuckled. "It was more of an accident really. I was in the junkyard one evening looking for something I needed for a project that my dad was helping me with. He startled me, and I wound up falling head first into a tall barrel." She looked over to Matt and smiled. "Long-story-short, Matt had to pull me out and we've been hanging out ever since."

"Why would you need to go to the junkyard? Couldn't you have gotten whatever you needed from a store?" Toni asked.

"Well, in a way my dad is kind of a recycling fanatic. Doesn't see any point in buying new things when he can work wonders with what he salvages from junkyards." She shrugs nonchalantly. "He's a genius."

"That's an understatement." Matt says matter-of-factly. The music starts up again and Matt suddenly rises. "Ready to hit the floor again, Tori?" he offers his hand.

"Sure, why not." She finishes her last bit of punch, then stands and takes his hand.

"Hey, what about our little conversation we have going here?" Toni inquires.

"Toni, no offense man, but this is a party, not an interrogation. I didn't bring Tori here just so you could shower her with questions all night. We'll catch up with you later."

"But—oh, man…" Toni says disappointedly.

Once again Tori was being led toward the middle of the floor. The song playing was slow, so she allowed Matt to hold her close to him. "Thanks for the escape. They certainly are persistent."

"They're just getting warmed up, I'm afraid."

"Wonderful." She said dryly. "Questioning Tori 101 all over again, except this time it'll be twice as miserable."

"Hey, at least this time you have me to back you up. And do a little interference work on the side." The music started to pick up speed again. "Come on, let's forget about everything else and just have some fun." She nodded.

…..

The rest of the dance was pretty much the same. Dancing, answering some of Toni and Dreama's questions during breaks—though they decided to lighten up after Matt's earlier comment, making small talk with others in attendance, and when the music started back up again they were back on the floor. But Tori had to admit that overall, she was having a good time. She almost hated to see the dance end. They headed for Matt's locker to retrieve her cape, once the dance was over. She checked her phone and luckily there were no messages. Toni and Dreama caught them as they came out of the school.

"Hey, Matt!" Toni called. "You and Tori wanna hang out with us for a while?"

"Actually we already have some special plans." Tori gave him a puzzled look. "Maybe some other time."

Toni shook his head. "Have it your way." He shrugged.

"What plans, Matt? We never talked about doing anything specific after the dance."

He cocked his head to the side and smiled mischievously. "Well, if I had told you it wouldn't have been a surprise now would it ninja girl?" he chuckled at her stunned reaction. "Come on, this way." Tori tried to get Matt to tell her where he was taking her, but all of her tactics proved fruitless. They had walked several blocks when Matt decided to duck through an alleyway. "Come on, we'll take the shortcut." They were only part way down the alley when some shadowy figures started coming towards them. Purple dragons. Instinctively, Matt put himself in front of Tori as they started to back their way out of the alley.

Tori turned her head to look behind them, and instantly knew they were in deep trouble. She stopped moving. "Uh, Matt…I think we have a problem."

"What?" He looked behind them. "Aw, crud." Their exit had been blocked off by more purple dragons. To put it simply, they were surrounded. They moved closer to the wall. "Think you can take 'em?" Matt asked quietly.

"Most of them, maybe." She said as she used her free hand to grab one of her sharp fans out of her inner cape pocket and secure it in her sash. "All of them…no."

"Well, well, what do we have here? A couple of costumed losers on their way to a party?" one said.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Matt said roughly. "Just let us go out the way we came and we'll be on our way."

"Nobody steps on purple dragon turf without paying." Spoke another. "Though maybe your girlfriend here can help you out with that."

Matt lunged forward. "Matt! No!" But Tori was too late to stop him. Before Matt could land a hit of his own, he got punched in the jaw and slammed against the brick wall, instantly falling to the ground. "Matt!" Tori went to rush to his side but found herself immobilized as one of the bigger goons had her held in a headlock, making it hard for her to breathe and lifting her off the ground just so her feet dangled in the air. She struggled to loosen his hold.

"Where do you think you're going? A delicate thing like you won't be able to get out of here without a few cuts." He said as he tightened his hold.

That was all it took for Tori's training to kick in. 'No one calls me delicate!' she thought as she prepared herself. "You're messing…with the…wrong…girl!" she got out hoarsely before elbowing him as hard as she could in the ribs. He let go and she dropped to the ground, sweeping her leg back to knock him off his feet and causing him to fall on top of some of his compatriots. She knew if she went to Matt they'd be sitting ducks. He was still writhing on the ground. She had to try and draw them away from him. Tori made a break for the opening she created by knocking the big guy over, and when she felt a pull on her cape she quickly undid the clasp and kept going. Heading around the corner and ducking into the shadows with most of them following her. They never saw her slip into the shadows so they kept going past her, but it didn't take them long to come back once they reached the dead-end and were unable to find her. 'Oh no,' she thought, 'they're heading back for Matt. Gotta think fast, gotta thi-.' She cringed as she heard a pained cry from Matt. Tori looked down at the metal band on her wrist. 'Sorry, Dad, but I can't just push a button and wait here in the shadows for you to come while some creeps beat the tar out of my best friend.' She reached for her fan and headed back towards the mob. 'Besides, I was trained for this.'

"Guess we'll just have to settle for you." She heard one say.

"Oh, guys." She called out coolly as she leaned against the wall at the edge of the shadows while twirling her folded fan in one hand. "Don't you know it's rude to ignore a girl?"

They turned and someone called out, "Get her!"

She let them come within a few yards of her before turning and running. Tori let them stay within sight of her as she rounded the corner to be certain they followed her. She started to pull at the front of her skirt as she continued running so she could tuck the end of it in her sash as she prepared for her next move. 'Man, I hope this works.' She thought as she ran full tilt into the deep shadows before her. 'One. Two. Three. Four!' she counted mentally before running up the wall a few steps and launching herself into the air. Flipping herself so she landed safely a few yards behind the mob that had just ran smack into the dead-end wall. Fortunately, the wall took care of most of the work and she only had to knock out a few of them. Tori then quickly untucked her skirt and made her way back to Matt. She quickly took out the three that had remained looming over Matt, using her fan to distract them with the pain of a few small cuts before punching their lights out. 'Ow,' she thought as she rubbed her knuckles after the last one fell to the ground and she had secured her fan back in her sash, 'man what I wouldn't give for my hand guards right about now.' She turned back around to see Matt trying to get up. "Matt! Matt, are you okay?" she asked as she knelt down beside him.

"Ughn, peachy." He said crossly. He winced in pain as he tried to wipe something wet away from the corner of his mouth.

She touched his shoulder. "Here, let me take a look."

"How are you going to see anything in this blackness? We're too far out of the light for you to see how bad it is."

"I was born and raised in the shadows remember? I can see more than you think." She said as she gently turned his head to take advantage of what little light they had. "Like the blood that's pouring out from the cut at the corner of your mouth for instance."

"You're exaggerating."

"On the blood pouring out perhaps, but either way we need to get you fixed up."

"What about you…did they hurt you?"

"I might have some bruising on my neck from that choke hold, but other than that I managed to get away without a scratch."

"Huh," he grunted, "I guess Buddy was right, I'm no help to you in a fight."

"Only because you're not trained to fight." She smiled, "'Course charging them like you did didn't do much good either." Suddenly there was the sound of voices and feet rushing in their direction. Tori grabbed her fan as she jumped up and spun around into her fighting stance prepared to fight.

"Whoa, easy there, Tori! It's just us!"

Tori relaxed as she saw who it was. She let out her pent up breathe, "Sorry, Toni. I thought it was more dragons."

"It's okay." He looked around. "We'd better clear out of here."

"I don't think we have too much to worry about, Toni…Tori took pretty good care of them."

"No, he's right, Matt. They won't be unconscious for very long, and I can't protect three people on my own against a mob like that."

"What do you mean?" Dreama asked worriedly. "I only see three."

"Let's just say they had a little run-in with a wall." Tori moved to help Matt up, who seemed to have taken a pretty good beating by the way he grunted in pain as he got to his feet. She put his arm over her shoulder to help steady him. "Let's go."

"Tori, wait. Where's your cape?" Matt asked.

"I got it." Dreama stated as she picked it up off the ground.

"Better put it on, Tor. We've got a little ways to go, and it's getting airy out."

She sighed. "You're just like the rest of my family…concerned about everyone but yourself when _you're_ the one who's injured."

Matt smirked. "Guess I've been around your family for so long it just kinda rubbed off on me." He grew serious. "But seriously, it's cool out here and you should put it back on."

"Alright." She said as she took her cape from Dreama and put it on while Toni steadied Matt. "Just promise me one thing. No more taking any of your shortcuts tonight."

Matt raised his hand like he was taking an oath. "Promise. One brawl per special occasion is my limit."

"Good…though it might be best if you give up brawling altogether." She beamed. "I'll take it from here, Toni." She said as she slid Matt's arm back over her shoulders. Then together the four of them made their way out of the alley, and started walking down the sidewalk.

"You sure you're okay, Matt? Maybe we should get you home." Said Toni.

"Just get me to Smooth J's and I'll be fine."

"Is that where you were going?" Dreama asked. "Why didn't you say so? Toni and I were planning on heading there eventually anyway." Matt just rolled his eyes.

"Smooth J's?"

Toni eyed her quizzically. "Jeez, what's this guy do, lock you in a matchbox when you hang out together?" Matt glared at him, but Toni ignored it. "It's kinda the local hangout—at least for our little group of friends and a couple of other local kids." Toni explained. "They always have really cool jazz music playing, and the food's not bad either." Tori looked at Matt questioningly.

"They make a really great pumpkin spice milkshake that they only serve around Halloween. I want to treat you to one as a thank you for going to the dance with me, and I guess for saving our necks tonight, too."

"Pumpkin spice milkshake? That sounds like something Uncle Mikey would concoct."

"Yeah, it reminds me of you, it's real sweet." Matt grins. "But the spice adds a real kick to it."

Tori gives him a playful nudge, which she immediately regrets as he winces. "Ooo, sorry."

Matt gives her a half smile. "Forget it, I should know better than to make cracks like that right now." They continue on to Smooth J's and find a table in a quiet corner by the window. Toni gets everyone's order and heads for the counter. Tori takes off her cape and slips her fan back into its hidden pocket, before draping it over her seat. Then she starts to take a better look at Matt's face. She grimaces as she gets a better look at the cut and bruising around his jaw, which has become quit tender to the touch.

"We're going to have to put some ice on that. So far the swelling is minimal, and it looks like the bleeding has stopped. Any other injuries I should be aware of?"

"Just some bruising where I took a couple of hits. But I'm fine really." He gave her hand a squeeze.

"Here we are," Toni announced as he returned, "four pumpkin spice specials, and an icepack for the guy with the injured pride." He finished as he handed out the shakes.

"Ha, ha, real funny, Toni." Matt said wryly while Tori reached for the icepack and applied it to his bruise. "Aaah, easy Tor! That's cold!"

She rolled her eyes and smiled humorously, "Well, it is an _icepack_, Matt. I'd be worried if it was boiling hot." He grumbled as he took over holding the pack to his face.

"You two always so…animated?" Toni asked.

"Not on purpose." Matt pipes up. "Just sort of happens naturally."

"Heh, you should have Tori around more often. You're never this funny on your own."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So, Tori, where'd you learn to fight that like?" Dreama asked.

Tori starts to fidget with the straw in her shake. "It's family tradition. Everyone born into my family is taught the art of ninjitsu from a very early age."

"Who teaches you?" Toni inquires.

"Well, mainly my Uncle Leo. He's the sensei—uh, teacher—to all my cousins, my siblings, and me. But my dad and other uncles help out, too. And they were taught by my grandfather."

"Wow, a whole family of kick-butt fighters right here in New York City." Toni says in awe.

"It's not just about fighting, Toni, there's a lot more to it than that. For Tori's family it's a way of life, bushido is the code of honor that they live by."

Toni shrugs. "Either way, it's cool."

Matt looks at Tori as he sets the icepack down. "Well, I have to agree with you there." Movement outside the window catches Matt's eye. "Uh, Tor." He makes a motion with his head for her to look out the window. She turns around to see her brother and company a short distance from the window, and her brother has noticed her presence inside. He's watching her intently, but the others don't seem to notice. She gives him a small smile as she waves casually. Buddy returns her smile. He then points to her, his eye, and then taps his wrist as though he were wearing a watch. She nods, and he gives her a thumbs up before Ricky gets his attention and they start to move on.

"Who was that?" Dreama asks.

Tori smiles, "My brother and a few of my cousins."

"What was with all the hand signals?" Toni questions.

"He was just reminding me to keep an eye on the time. I'll have to meet up with him before too long."

"He's gonna have my head, when he finds out what happened tonight." Matt comments flatly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Tori, I know how that twin of yours is. There's no way he didn't notice the icepack or the bruises on my face, which has probably already triggered his realization that something happened."

"True, but I don't have so much as a scratch on me, and he saw that we're perfectly safe. For all he knows somebody could have punched you while we were at the dance. You've looked after me just like you promised him you would so there's no reason for him to want to pummel you."

"Overprotective?" Toni asks.

"Extremely." Matt replies.

"It's something of a family trait." Tori admits. "Our…unique attributes make extreme caution a necessity."

Dreama looks at the time. "We'd better be going. It's getting close to midnight, and Jazz is going to want to close up shop soon."

"Right." Toni agreed. They finished their shakes, and made their way outside. "You want us to walk with you two?" Toni asks.

"Thanks for the offer guys, but we'll be fine." Matt responds

"Okay then, we'll catch ya later. Tori, don't let this guy lock you away again. We expect to see you every now and then." Toni informs them.

"Sorry guys, but my family is going to be out of the city for some time after this weekend."

"Well, maybe we can arrange something when you get back." Dreama suggests.

"We'll see." Matt says as he takes Tori's hand. "Later guys."

"Bye" Tori adds with a wave as Matt ushers her in the direction of the rendezvous point.

"So…what did you think of tonight?"

"Overall, I had a great time." Tori said. "Too, bad you didn't win the crown, and had that run in with the purple dragons though." She teased.

"Oh-ho, that's right, hurt a guy when he's down." He joked. His face went serious. "I can't believe it's time for your family to head up to the farmhouse again. I'm really gonna miss having you around."

"Oh, you'll be too busy with school stuff to even notice I'm gone." She said lightheartedly.

"That's not true. Call me crazy, but this place gets lonely without you around. It's not nearly as much fun or as fascinating when you guys are out of town."

"You're crazy…but I do understand what you mean. I'll miss you too." She smiled sadly. "The good news is my parents and Buddy will lighten up a bit while we're up there. Mom's always more at ease up there—it's more her element than the city is so she doesn't worry so much—and Buddy will be spending a lot of time with his friend DJ who lives nearby. You could always go to the lair and hang out with Ricky, or JC. Even Kelli and KK wouldn't mind having you around. Their families won't be heading up to the farmhouse for a while yet, and they'll all be back weeks before my family is. "

"Yeah…no offense, but I think I'll pass. It's just not the same." They stop on the dark side of a building, by the fire escape. "Guess this is where we say goodbye. Sure you don't want me to go up there with you?"

"No, you go on home. I'll be fine. He's probably up there waiting for me already."

"Be careful you don't get your outfit caught on something on your way up. You don't want to ruin it."

"Yeah, the last thing I need is grief from my fashion police because I ruined their handiwork." She said sarcastically.

Matt laughed. "Well, you never know when you might need it again. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing you in it on future special occasions."

"You would."

He smiles and caresses her cheek with his hand. "Goodnight, Tori." He leans in and gives her a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Safe travels…and for heaven's sake try to stay out of trouble." He teased.

She smirked. "What can I say, trouble has a way of finding me." Tori gave his hand one last gentle squeeze. "Bye, Matt." She climbed the fire escape, and once she reached the roof she looked down to see Matt still standing there watching her. She smiled and waved once more before heading for the ledge on the other side of the building Tori sat on the ledge with her back against the wall where it led to a higher platform, and looked out across the city. It wasn't long before her brother arrived.

"Mind if I join you?"

She shrugged good-naturedly. "It's a free rooftop."

"Scoot forward." He positioned himself so that he was between his sister and the wall, and gently draped his arms around her as she leaned back against him. He started to stroke one of her curls. "Hmm…you know, if your hair doesn't straighten back out, we'll have to start calling you Goldie-locks." He teased.

She nudged him. "You wouldn't!"

Buddy laughed, "Oh, yes I would!" Tori shook her head, and then snuggled down in his embrace, leaning her head against his shoulder. "So, how did it go tonight?"

"Fine. I had a great time, and the decorations were amazing. Matt didn't win the crown, but we did get to have our picture taken. He's promised to give me a copy when we get back from the farmhouse."

"Was that before or after Matt got socked in the jaw?" He felt Tori stiffen slightly. "I saw the icepack and the bruising through the window—not to mention Matt's reaction to seeing me—so I know something happened, but I don't know what."

"We sort of had a little run-in with some purple dragons on our way to Smooth J's."

"And you didn't call anybody? Boy will you be in for it if Dad finds out."

"You're not going to tell him are you?"

"No. You're alright and that's all that matters." He rested his chin on her head. "But I will say that you should have called someone or hit the button on your bracelet like he instructed you to."

"I know." She admitted quietly. "So how did your night go?"

He chuckled. "Oh, you know, the usual."

She smiled. "Well, it's nice to know that some things don't change over night."

"What do you mean?"

Tori felt her eyes growing heavy as sleep started to pull her. "Let's just say…it was a night to remember. I wish it could last forever." She finished quietly as she drifted off to sleep.

"Should I be worried as to what the meaning is behind that?" No response. "Tor?" He smiled to himself as he realized she had nodded off. He would let her sleep for a while before they had to head back to the lair. He knew she would never allow him to carry her home, and it would freak his family out if he came in carrying her like that. So, he decided to just stay put for a while. They weren't due back at the lair for a couple of hours anyway. He gently kissed the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, Tor."


End file.
